


A More Beautiful Question

by UchiHime



Series: Tumblr Ficlets [4]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Daddy Derek, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Implied Mpreg, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-21
Updated: 2014-04-29
Packaged: 2018-01-20 07:57:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 3,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1502756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UchiHime/pseuds/UchiHime
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of Daddy!Sterek ficlets from my tumblr.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Always the beautiful answer who asks a more beautiful question. ~e.e. cummings

"You’re going to spoil them," Stiles stated, crossing his arms and leaning against the archway that separated the living room from the dining room.

"What does that even mean?" Derek asked with a roll of his eyes. He was seated on the floor, leaning against the couch with his legs stretched out in front of him. One of his sons was laid over his right thigh, fast asleep. His other son was asleep on his chest because he usually couldn’t get to sleep without the up close sound of Derek’s heartbeat.

"It means you’re going to make it so they always want to be held and cry everytime they're put down, meaning no one is ever going to want to babysit for us."

Derek looked down at Laurence on his thigh and smiled softly as he watched the little suckling motions the babe was making in his sleep. He didn’t like pacifiers, but he always looked as he if was sucking on something. “Why would we need babysitters? That’s what we, their parents, are for.”

"Yeah, but what if we want to go out. Like on a date or something."

"Stiles, we’ve never gone on a date. Ever."

"Well, things are different now. We might need the time out to remind ourselves why we fell in love with each other."

"I still don’t know why I fell in love with you in the first place; I woke up one morning all of a sudden knowing that I did."

"That’s thanks to my guerilla romance tactics. We could go on dates so I can make you fall for me all over again."

Derek rolled his eyes again. “Once was enough, thanks.”

"What about sex?" Stiles asked. "It’s kinda hard to get busy with two crying babies in the house."

"They’re not crying right now."

"Yeah, but I can’t exactly sex you up with them laying all over you."

Derek shifted his hold on Cory, running his fingers through his hair. Both of the boys had been born with a head full of dark, soft hair. Derek loved touching it. He loved touching his sons, holding them in his arms, feeling them breathing against his chest, gently poking their pudgy cheeks. He just hadn’t gotten over the miracle of their existence. It felt like a dream, as if he’d blink and they would be gone.

"As much as I love our boys," Stiles said, "I loved the act of making them, too. Really loved it in fact. Ten out of ten would do again."

Derek let out an exasperated huff. He could feel Laurence drooling down his thigh, soaking through the blanket he’d laid across it before settling the baby there. Cory’s little hands were gripping tight at his shirt and his diapered bum was resting on the arm Derek had laid across his legs to keep him in place.

Stiles sighed and crossed the room, settling on the floor with Derek, lying on his stomach with his feet up in the air. He face was right next to Laurence’s on Derek’s thigh. He stared at the baby’s fluttering eyelids and Derek stared at him.

After a while, Derek raised a hand and carded it through Stiles’ spiked hair. Stiles looked up at him and gave a large smile that lit up his entire face.

"That," Derek said.

"What?"

"Your smile. That’s why I fell in love with you."


	2. Chapter 2

"Give him here," Derek said, reaching to take Cory from Stiles’ arms.

Stiles moved back and turned away, continueing the little bouncy jostling step he was doing in hopes of soothing the child. “No, I got this. Check on Laurence.”

"Laurence is sleeping and if you give me Cory, I can get him to sleep, too."

"I got this," Stiles repeated. As if to prove him wrong, Cory let out an extra loud cry. He’d been very colicky lately and nothing Stiles could do would calm him, but Derek seemed to have a special way with the child that got him to sleep almost instantly. Being honest, Stiles was jealous. He was Cory’s father, too, he should be able to soothe him. He shouldn’t have to rely on Derek. He should be able to take care of his own child.

"Stiles, just give him here before his crying wakes Laurence."

Stiles moved away from Derek’s outstretched hands again. “I said I got this,” he repeated with a bit more force. He shifted Cory from over his shoulder, as he’d been trying to burp him in hopes that gas was the problem, and to arms with the child’s head resting against his chest. Cory always seemed to like listening to Derek’s heartbeat, maybe the same thing would work for Stiles.

Cory let out a cry that sounded more like a scream and Derek moved too quickly for Stiles to resist, carefully plucking the child from Stiles’ arms. 

Stiles stood there, arms crossed, lips pursed, tears of frustration prickling his eyes as he watched Derek. It took only a couple of minutes for Derek to get Cory calm and Stiles had been trying for nearly an hour.

Stiles pulled his gaze away and walked out of the nursery without a word. He stomped down the stairs and headed to the kitchen, fixing himself a cup of ice water. He set the cup on the counter without actually drinking it. He just stood there, staring at it, watching the condensation forming on the glass as he tried to calm the trembling in his body. 

He felt like such a failure. Like he’d failed as a father. Like he was unfit. With a frustrated cry, he swiped the glass off the counter. It fell to the floor and shattered, sending water, glass, ice cube in every direction. Stiles cursed and grabbed the dish rag to mop up the spilled water.

He wanted to cry. Of course he was an unfit parent if he had a temper tantrum like this everytime things didn’t go his way. But it wasn’t fair. He was trying. He was trying so hard. But nothing he did seemed to be right. Derek was the perfect father and Stiles was just a big fat failure.

A tiny sliver of glass embedded itself in Stiles’ thumb and he cursed again when he felt the sting. The tears welling in his eyes spilled down his cheeks as a bead of blood rolled down his thumb. 

His wrist was grabbed and he turned to find Derek kneeling next to him. He hadn’t even heard him come down the stairs. Derek kept his eyes trained on Stiles’ thumb, using his claws to pull the glass out.

"You know how when you bathe them and wash their hair, all they do is giggle and enjoy themselves. But when it’s my turn to bathe them, all they do is cry. I feel like a failure. I wonder what I was doing wrong. I think ‘how come Stiles can do this and I can’t, I’m their father, too.’ And I get angry to mask how hurt I actually feel at not being able to do this one simple thing for my sons. And more than once, I wanted to put my fist through the wall, but I contained myself. I calm myself down and I say that it’s okay that I’m not good at this, because you’re good at it. I’m not doing this alone, so I don’t need to be perfect."

The bleeding in his thumb had stopped by the time Derek let go of his wrist and looked into his eyes. “Stiles,” he said slowly, one of his hands cradling Stiles’ neck with his thumb tracing across Stiles’ jaw, “you don’t have to be able to do everything. You don’t need to be perfect. You’re not doing this alone.”


	3. Chapter 3

"Laurence won’t stop crying," Stiles said. Even through the phone Derek could hear in his voice that he was at his wit’s end.

"Is he hungry?" Derek asked.

"Hungry? Of course he’s hungry! Why didn’t I think to check that before calling you long distance!"

Derek sighed. Of course it was a stupid question, but it had been his first thought and had slipped from his lips before he could stop it. His second thought was, “Did you change him? You know he hates to be wet for even a minute.”

"This conversation is really going to be worth the international calling fees. I fed him earlier when I fed Cory, he was fine then. I tried to feed him again when all the crying started, he wouldn’t take the bottle. I’ve checked his diaper at least six times in the last hour alone; he’s not wet. And no, it’s not just colic, because they’re passed the age where that’s supposed to happen."

"What about his thrush medicine."

"Yes, Derek, I am a complete idiot and failed to give our son his needed medicine. If you keep asking these stupid questions, you can fucking stay in South America with your sister!"

"I’m just trying to cover all the bases, Stiles."

"Well, there’s some bases you could skip if you realized that, contrary to popular belief, I am capable of caring for even the most basic needs of an infant. If you think so little of me, then maybe you shouldn’t have left me alone with the kids."

Derek winced. “I don’t you ability to care for our children, Stiles. I’m sorry. Have you tried putting him in the same crib as Cory? That calms him sometimes.”

"I tried that," Stiles said, his voice sounding pitiful and weak. "I’ve tried everything. Nothing’s working. He just won’t stop crying."

Derek sighed and swiped a hand over his face, wishing he would be home to help Stiles with their sons. He tried to think of what could possibly be wrong. Maybe he would be able to figure it out if he was there with him, but he’d made an agreement with Cora to spend at least two full moons out of the year with her and it just so happened that this was the full moon where he went to South America instead of Cora coming to Beacon Hills.

"Oh," the thought occurred to him all of a sudden. "Have you tried taking him outside?"

"What?"

"If he’s a wolf, he could start feeling the pull of the moon at around this age. He’s too young to shift, if he’s feeling it, being in the moonlight might help."

They hadn’t been sure if Cory and Laurence would be wolves, because the signs didn’t appear until they were at least six months of age, some late bloomers (like Derek) didn’t feel the pool until they were closer to eighteen months. 

"I didn’t think of that," Stiles stated. Derek could hear him either going up or down the stairs.

"Take them both out."

He could also hear Stiles rolling his eyes. “Yes Derek, because I was totally going to take Laurence out and leave Cory in the house all by himself.” 

The sound of crying the Derek had been hearing in the background the entire conversation got louder and Derek assumed that Stiles had entered the nursery. “Hold on a minute,” Stiles said, and Derek hear the phone being set down before he could even reply.

Over the sound of the baby crying, Derek heard Stiles talking softly to their sons as he readied them to go outside. He also heard him say something like ‘your daddy is a big doodoo head, but he’s our doodoo head and we love him.’ Derek rolled his eyes at that.

A few minutes later, the sound of crying lowered and came to a stop. “Oh my god, it worked,” Stiles said into the phone. “Derek, it worked!” 

Derek smiled at the sound of relief in Stiles’ voice. “Still think I’m a doodoo head?” He teased.

"Yes, you are a doodoo head, but you’re a smart doodoo head, so I think I’ll let you come home after all."

Derek chuckled. “That’s all I ask for. I gotta run now, kiss the pups for me.”

"Will do. Have fun on your wolfy run."

Derek chuckled again. “Smile, Stiles.” I love you was something too sappy and cliche for them, so it was something they didn’t say.

Instead they would say, “Smile, Derek.”


	4. Chapter 4

The problem was, Laurence loved sharing a crib with Cory. Being next to his brother was one of his most favorite things. Cory, on the other hand, seemed to be under the impression that a womb for nine months was more than enough time spent sharing space with Laurence.

Laurence would be inconsolable if he was away from his brother for too long. Cory pitched a fit if they were next to each other for too long.

They’d actually discovered this by accident. After a feeding and changing, the boys had been placed in the same bassinet while Derek and Stiles took care of some things around the house. About 45 minutes later, Cory had started screaming and nothing Stiles or Derek did calmed him. Stiles had decided to leave Cory in Derek’s capable hands and take Laurence out of the room before he grew upset as well. The moment Laurence was away from him, Cory had calmed.

They’d elected to keep them in separate bassinets after that, but after about an hour, Laurence had started screaming. Stiles had danced him around the room trying to calm him while Derek went to get his thrush medicine. Laurence’s crying did set off Cory, so Stiles had picked us other son up and held them both in his arms as he danced around the room. The moment his brother was within touching distance, Laurence had calmed down.

"Just like your son to be difficult and antisocial," Stiles said.

"My son? I could have sworn they were our sons."

"That ‘stay away from me’ mentality is all Hale genes. Stilinskis are sociable creatures."

"Laurence’s desire to be near Cory is due to him seeing Cory as Pack. A wolf thing. From the Hale genes."

Stiles rolled his eyes. “Well, Cory sure didn’t get this antisocial stuff from me.”

"Maybe he’s not antisocial. Maybe he just finds Laurence obnoxious and annoying, just like his papa."

"I am neither obnoxious nor annoying."

Derek eyebrows expressed his opinion of that statement and Stiles briefly considered shaving the damn things off while Derek slept.

"Just for that," Stiles said, "I’m going to teach them to call you mommy."


	5. Chapter 5

Cory’s first word was Dada. Stiles had been trying to teach the boys to say Papa for the longest time, but somehow Cory still ended up saying Dada first. That was fine. At least his first word was one of his parents.

Laurence’s first word was Scott.

Well, actually it was “Sca” accompanied by flailing limbs, giggles, and a large smile as Scott made silly faces at him. Talk about betrayal.

It all would have been fine if Cory hadn’t copied Laurence and started saying “Scott” all the time, or if Laurence had learned to say ‘papa’ next instead of “baba.”

So, while Derek and Scott were beaming with pride, and the twins were happily suckling bottles, Stiles may or may not have been pouting.


	6. Chapter 6

Laurence didn’t understand why he needed to be more gentle with Cory. He knew that Cory was human, but that conflicted with the knowledge that Cory was his twin. 

"He’s my twin; he’s just like me," Laurence said with all the knowledge and conviction of a four year old. If Laurence injured himself, it only hurt for a second before his wolf powers kicked in and healed him, so the same should go for Cory.

"He’s not just like you," Derek explained gentle. "He’s your twin, but you’re different people. Cory doesn’t have a wolf like you do. When he get’s an owie, it hurts him a lot longer than it hurts you."

Laurence’s face scrunched up in a pouty frown that meant he didn’t fully understand.

"Cory is human like your Papa," Derek tried to explain again. "Humans get hurt a lot easier than wolves like you and me."

"But nothing hurts Papa. Papa is a superhero."

"Superheroes get hurt too, kiddo. Like Superman when he’s around Kryptonite."

"There’s no Kryptonite here."

"With humans, it’s like the Kryptonite is inside them so it goes wherever they go and they get sick and hurt. We have wolves that keeps the Kryptonite out of us, but they don’t."

"Why don’t they have wolves?"

"They don’t need wolves. They have us to protect them. You and me keep them for getting hurt. Just like superheroes."

"Like superheroes?" Laurence asked, his eyes widening and lighting up in excitement.

"Yep, just like superheroes. It’s our job to keep them safe. Are you up for the challenge?"

"Yes!" 

"Good. But remember, superheroes have to be gentle, if they’re not they might hurt someone."

Laurence frowned. “I didn’t mean to hurt Cory.”

"I know you didn’t, but I think you should tell him you’re sorry. It’ll help make him feel better."

"Okay," Laurence said.

Derek smiled at his son and held his small hand as they headed over to where Stiles was bandaging the still crying Cory.

"Daddy," Cory said when he saw Derek coming towards him. "Daddy, Papa isn’t doing it right!"

"Papa isn’t doing what right?" Derek asked.

"He’s not kissing it right! It still hurts. Daddy, make it better!"

Derek chuckled softly and lowered himself down next to Cory. “Alright, let Daddy make it better.” He gently held the scrapped arm thrust in his face with one hand, and placed his other hand on Cory’s ankle out of the kids’ sight. There was a slight sting in his arm as his veins blackened and the pain his son was feeling seeped away. “All better?” He asked after kissing the injury.

"All better!" Cory repeated with a large smile. Shooting a look at Stiles that said ‘see how easy that was.’

"Alright, Laurence has something to tell you."

Derek ignored Stiles’ accusatory gaze while his oldest son apologized to his brother. Laurence might have thought Papa was the superhero, but Daddy was the one with the powers.


	7. Chapter 7

Cory was sitting in a chair outside the principal’s office when Derek arrived, staring down at his swinging feet and pouting. “Hey Kiddo,” Derek greeted, running his hand through his son’s air. “Wanna tell me what’s going on?”

"Laurence got into a fight," Cory mumbled. "He was protecting me."

"If he was protecting you, he didn’t do anything wrong." Derek stated. Ever since Derek had talked to him about it, years ago, Laurence had taken his role as Cory’s personal superhero to heart. He was always quick to protect his human brother, which was good because Cory was the more sensitive of the two and didn’t do well under negative attention.

Cory frowned and glanced up and down the hallway to make sure they were alone, before beckoning his dad closer. Derek leaned in despite not needing to do so with his wolf hearing. “He wolfed out,” Cory whispered. “Just for a second. I don’t think anyone saw.”

This time it was Derek frowning. Laurence control over his wolf was pretty good for someone his age, but it wasn’t perfect. If anyone had seen him shift, it could cause a lot of problems. “Don’t worry, pup, I’ll handle it. Just wait here for us.”

Cory didn’t look appeased, but he nodded and stayed seated as Derek entered the principal’s office.

Laurence was slumped down in a chair across from the principal’s desk, his arms were crossed over his chest, his jaw clench, and anger just radiating from his eyes. In the seat next to him was a woman around Derek’s own age, agitation pouring off her in waves.

"Mr. Hale," the principal greeted. "I’m sorry about having to call you in like this."

"It’s fine," Derek said calmly, stepping up behind his son and placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Mind telling me what the hell happened out there?" The woman cut in.

"Your sons were involved in an altercation on the playground."

"An altercation?" The woman spat. "My son is in the hospital with a fractured jaw, broken nose, and concussion. There was a hell of a lot more than an altercation and I’m pressing charges!"

"I didn’t do anything wrong," Laurence stated before anyone else could say anything. "Dad, you told me to look out for Cory, so that’s what I did."

Derek squeezed Laurence’s shoulder reassuringly. “Exactly what happened?” He asked the principal.

"From what I gathered, Mr. Jeffries has been teasing your son, Cory, a lot this past week and Laurence stepped to his defense."

"Cory isn’t a fighter," Derek stated. "Laurence always protects him where he can."

"Ryan Jefferies is two years older than your boys and a great deal… bulkier. As Mrs. Jeffries stated, he received an extensive collection of injuries, but your boys were relatively unharmed."

Derek raised a single eyebrow at that statement. “You’re trying to say what exactly?”

"I believe there may have been another, older student involved that actually did the fighting, but no one seems willing to say who it was."

Derek shook his head, dismissing the words. “Laurence and Cory’s grandfather is the former sheriff of Beacon Hills. He’s made sure that my boys are well trained in matters of their personal defense, predicting they might be the recipient of bullying due to having two fathers. Laurence is more than capable of causing the injuries stated.”

"Ryan said your boy turned into a monster," the woman interrupted. "He said he had glowing eyes and teeth like a rabid dog."

"You said Ryan has a concussion? Obviously he hallucinated somethings. Perhaps to protect his own ego? He did get beat up by a kid two years younger than him. There was a monster involved in this altercation, but it was not my boy. All Laurence was doing was defending his brother, he wasn’t the one fighting someone much smaller than him."

The woman glared at Derek, and he glared right back.

**Author's Note:**

> You can find my tumblr [here](http://littleredtriskele.tumblr.com)


End file.
